Nokia N900 VoIP Integration Rocks

n900-voip-call

Last night I went to use the evaluation Nokia N900 and call James, when I realized I had a data-only SIM card in the device. It turns out that it didn’t matter due to the excellent integration of VoIP and IM services within Maemo. You can see by the picture that I was on a call with James. It looks like any normal call, right? It’s not. I “called” James over Google Talk and I did it right through the standard Contacts application, just like I would for a regular phone call. Here’s how it works.

Within Maemo on the N900, you can easily set up VoIP and IM accounts for Google, Jabber, SIP, Skype and Ovi. I set up Skype and Google Talk because those are the services I use on a daily basis.

On the main screen of the N900, your presence for these services is always shown, and a quick tap allows you to modify your status. You can even show your location to these services at one of three levels: city, district, or street. Once you’ve set up your accounts for these services, the N900 will show your contact’s statuses as well. It’s completely integrated within the Contacts application, so with a quick glance you can see who’s online and who’s not. In fact, you can sort your contacts by Availability which moves all of the online contacts from VoIP and IM to the top. Simply tapping one of these contacts provides the option for me to call over Skype, Google Talk or to send an IM.

At this point, you essentially have one address book for all of your peeps, regardless of how you contact them. For instance, in my case I can use contacts to place a voice call to a cellphone, landline, Skype or Google Talk. The network method simply doesn’t matter and I love that — I want to call people, not numbers. So if I want to ping James via phone, voice over IP or IM, I can do it all one place.

While other handsets have this type of presence integration, I like the breadth of services offered natively within Maemo on the N900 — especially Skype. In fact, I’m wondering if some folks could get away with an N900 and no voice plan. By combining the free Google Voice service with a $60 yearly Skype number, could the N900 be a data-driven device with voice access over the web? Granted, we need ubiquitous wireless coverage for such a scenario, but I think the idea has merit for the N900 as well as future handset. Om noted this VoIP integration in his first look at the N900, but I think many folks are missing what could be a killer feature for some.

Before I forget: the call quality was “near cellular” James tells me. I was actually using Wi-Fi for my connection, which routes my web traffic over a fast FiOS connection. I held the device like a phone and I also put it on speakerphone — from my side, it sounded just like any other phone call. There was no lag, no echo, nor any other sound issues from the stereo speakers on the left and right side of the handset. All in all, it was a seamless and positive experience.

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